The Return of Revenant
by Drumboy100
Summary: Now in her mid-thirties, Nancy is summoned again to Scotland to prevent the plans of the terrorist organization known as Revenant. Her husband Frank is forced ask for help from the one man he was hoping never to see again. Warnings: non-graphic terrorist activity, major spoilers for the PC game A Silent Spy. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Frank Hardy awoke quite suddenly when his five-year-old daughter took a running swan dive right next to him on the double bed. He yelled in surprise and instinctively rolled off the bed, taking cover over the side. Getting his bearings, his heart slowed down and he managed a tired laugh as he got back in bed and took Annie in his arms.

"Now I don't need an alarm clock _or_ a cup of coffee!" the 34-year-old teased as he began to tickle. He made a mental note to speak to her about this sometime; with his type of job and training, his startle response might be more dangerous than a typical father's. But he kind of enjoyed this, too.

It was Annie's turn to be the victim, and she giggled involuntarily while frantically trying to escape his arms and fingers. Finally she broke free and held her sides, catching her breath and looking at him warily.

Frank gave her an "I'm watching you" look as he ran a hand through unruly hair. He frowned. "Where's your mom?" he asked, getting out of bed and stretching. "She usually wakes me up."

"There's a note on your dresser," Annie said helpfully.

"Thanks, sweetie." Annie handed it to him and watched as he read. A shadow crossed his face, then his eyes narrowed like he was very angry, then his forehead crinkled up like it did when he was worried.

"What is it, Daddy?" Annie asked quietly. "Where's Mommy?"

He turned widened eyes on hers, and sucked in a breath through his nostrils. Nancy obviously hadn't meant for their daughter to be present as he read this note, but he resented her for putting him in this situation nonetheless. "Annie…" how could he comfort her when he needed comfort himself? "Cupcake, you remember those few talks that Mommy and I have had with you, about the kinds of jobs that we have?"

"Dangerous," Annie said, echoing her parents' word. "Like you could get hurt one day. Is Mommy hurt?"

"No, I don't think so." Frank took her on his lap. "But Mommy has gone to work on one of her dangerous detective cases. She didn't tell us about it because she wants us to be safe even if she can't be."

Annie blinked. She was too young to understand, and wouldn't feel the emotions that Frank did right now. "Well…when is she going to come back?" she asked slowly.

"I don't know, honey." Frank gave her a hug. He turned her around. "But Annie, I'm going to go try to find her and help her with what she's doing. You know how we always tell you that people who love each other try to help each other."

"But then it will be dangerous for you, too," Annie said.

Looking into her tiny brown eyes, Frank almost changed his plan. Almost. "Yes, it will be. But you know that the bad guys haven't beaten us yet, and Mommy and I have been doing this for many years."

"So when will you be coming home?" Annie repeated.

"I don't know that, either. But you're going to be staying with Grandma and Grandpop for a while. Your mom and I love you so, so much…" Frank's voice broke.

"But I love you, so I should help you and come with you," Annie reasoned.

"No!" Frank said sharply, and regretted it when she flinched. "The best thing you can do now is love Grandma and Grandpop like they were your own parents." He fervently wished that this would be a temporary situation. He hugged her until she gasped for breath. "Let's pack both of our bags together," he said.

Two hours later he paced in front of his brother's desk at the Hardy Detective Agency. Their father had retired early last year, and Nancy continued with her freelance detective work, refusing a job offer with him or any other established firm. "You're my better half, Frank, but I can't be the wife living in her husband's shadow," he remembered her saying.

Joe read slowly out loud. "Frank, I love you and Annie with every cell of my body. Revenant has resurfaced, and I have been called back to Scotland until this crisis has been dealt with. I am leaving you this note out of respect, and please, please don't do something rash and make me regret it. Believe me that I saw no other alternative than to do this. I love you both very much and I hope very much to see you two again soon. Love always, Nancy." Joe could see the small wrinkled circles where Nancy's tears had fallen. He let the note drop onto his desk and looked up, searching Frank's face. He let the silence settle until Frank decided to break it.

Frank's pacing had only increased in tempo. "I can't believe she would do this," he repeated. "Now I know why she was so restless and distracted the past few days."

Joe stood up and walked around his desk, leaning behind it. He didn't dare put a comforting hand on Frank in this current mood. "I'm assuming you dropped off Annie's at Mom and Dad's," he said gently.

"A half hour ago." Frank again yanked his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture. "What does she expect me to do, how does she expect me to live with myself if something happens? She would never sit here and do nothing if our places were reversed."

"Frank," Joe said, leaning forward. "What are you planning, bro?"

"I'm going to go after her, of course."

Joe sighed loudly and shook his head, earning him Frank's wrath. Frank turned sharply to face him. "Joe, we both know what I'm going to say, and what you're going to say, and what I'm going to say again, so why don't we save ourselves forty-five minutes and you can at least give me some kind of advice without sending me out there blind?"

"You know that I gave up my terrorism prevention work when Vanessa had our first child," Joe said firmly. "I have nothing to contribute to this conversation."

"You've got to call your connections, please," Frank pleaded, coming closer and putting a hand on each of Joe's shoulders. "Call in favors, whatever—all I need is information to get started."

"Never would they ever give me that kind of information when I'm not on the active list, and there would be quite a few hoops to jump through to get back on the active list, which I don't want to do anyway. And there's an infinitely smaller chance that they would give information to a frantic husband who would be absolutely no help, and be a potential hostage if he got in the way. Then what kind of corner would Nancy be backed into? She'll have to worry about you and forget about the mission, when you're supposed to be saving her. From my experience, this sounds like the kind of job where she'll use her connections to infiltrate their plan, end it quickly, and be back in a few days."

"If all goes well." Joe said nothing to that. Frank returned to pacing, this time throwing a pen up and down distractedly. "Joe, you know I'm going to do this with or without your help. But without it will be much more difficult."

"You don't have the luxury of that choice anymore, Mr. Hardy," Joe said vehemently, not moving from his position. "You've got a daughter. How would you like her to have no parents instead of one?"

This was exactly the blow that he knew would hit Frank the hardest. Frank stopped and bent over as if he were in pain, gripping his knees and squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Several moments passed.

Then Frank stood up and turned around, with a look that Joe always referred to as "the calm after the storm." Joe felt a chill. "I'll tell you what I wouldn't like," Frank said, carefully choosing his words. "I wouldn't like to see an exact repeat of what happened to Carson Drew thirty years ago. He was in this same scenario, did nothing in the name of his daughter, and had nightmares about it until the day he died of colon cancer several years ago."

Joe said nothing. He looked weary. "Let me go instead of you," he tried, and Frank rolled his eyes in disgust. Joe grunted and rubbed his cheek, once more approaching his brother, although this time without hope. "Frank," he said in a low voice. "I think this is the stupidest, most egotistical thing you will ever do in your life. Nancy has information and resources that you don't. She doesn't need a knight in shining armor."

Frank closed his eyes. "So you won't help me, then?"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Joe answered. "I'm out of that game." He looked at Frank meaningfully. "But we both know who might."

Frank suddenly looked and felt ten years older. "Oh, God," he breathed and slumped into the nearest chair.

"Here's the phone." Joe handed it to him. "Good luck." He patted his brother twice on the back before giving him his privacy.

Frank stared listlessly into the air until he heard the dial tone replaced by a series of rapid beeps. Then he forced himself to focus, quickly looking up a phone number in his databases on the internet. He rolled his shoulders back twice, sat up straight, and hesitatingly forced himself to dial the area code plus seven digits.

"Hello," he croaked when a voice picked up, and cleared his throat. "Hello, is this Ned?"

"Who is this?" a suspicious, gruff voice questioned, probably expecting a telemarketer.

"Ned, this is Frank Hardy." Frank hurried on, afraid that Ned would hang up. "Nancy's in trouble. She needs your help."


	2. Chapter 2

Three hours later, Frank knocked on a newer-looking apartment door in River Heights, feeling equal parts nervousness and dread. He knew the welcome would not be warm.

The door opened, and revealed Ned's retreating backside. "Hardy," Ned said stiffly by way of greeting, returning to the table for his bottled water. He played with the cap, screwing it on and off between swigs.

Frank let himself in and shut the door. The years had been kind to Ned, as he appeared to be in better physical shape than ever. Frank recalled that he had been studying recreation and fitness in college. "Ned…thanks for agreeing to see me."

"As long as it's quick." Ned turned to face him, planting his feet shoulder-length apart. He did not offer Frank a drink or a seat.

Frank had a brief flashback of their years of rivalry. Nancy had originally been attracted to Ned's innate good nature and genuine openness, and Frank had whittled her resolve by teaming up with her for case after case, stressing their commonalities. There had been one extremely awkward double date when Frank had appeared to completely forget which girl was his date. "Here," he said, handing Nancy's note to Ned. "After you read what I woke up to this morning, you'll know just as much about why I'm here as I do."

Ned scowled in annoyance at the descriptions of love, then appeared fearful. His head shot up. "Revenant?" he asked. "She went a second time into the same kind of trap that killed her mother? Sakes, Nancy." He shook his head in bewilderment. "I guess neither of us should be surprised by now by the things she'll do."

Frank made a sound in grudging agreement. "Is there anything that…I would appreciate it if you can give me some background information about this group, and what happened fifteen years ago. What can you remember?"

"You said that Nancy needed my help, not you." Ned's eyes narrowed slightly. "Her note expressly states that she does not want you involved."

Tension radiated between the two men. Frank felt an itch in his knuckles, an urge for them to come into contact with someone. He knew what Ned might want. "Please...I'm begging you. I'll get down on my knees if you say the word, I don't care."

"No, no, that's not necessary." Ned's shoulders relaxed, and he stared out the window. He wasn't capable of much gloating, and it occurred to Frank that they might have been friends in other circumstances. "Really, though, Frank, this does put me in an awkward position. I don't know whether I'm sending you to help or to make things worse."

"Forget about me," Frank answered, shifting his weight. "We know that Nancy thinks she's infallible. You were the person she confided in the first time around, with emotions as well as clues and information. What do you think are the odds that she will come away unscathed a second time?"

Ned pressed his lips together. "Why wouldn't she tell her husband about it?"

"She told me only the most basic facts," Frank said truthfully. "She said that she didn't want me to know too much, for my own safety, but it was apparent that it would have been painful for her as well."

"Understandable. Many of the details went to the grave with Carson Drew. Or perhaps Moira is still around." Ned shrugged.

"Moira?" Frank asked.

Ned paused and thought. "Give me a few minutes to make some calls and get packed. I'll brief you on the drive to the airport."

"What?" Frank asked incredulously, and checked himself. "I mean, I'm sure I could call you if I have any questions along the way."

"Trust me, you don't want to go over there alone. Knowing Revenant, they could either be ignoring you completely and not know Nancy's there yet, or they could have your cell phone tapped and be watching the apartment right now. They're highly unpredictable."

Frank was not looking forward to such an adventure, but his skin had not lost the cold, clammy feel it had to it since he read Nancy's note, and he was willing to endure anything to have the life back that he'd had twenty-four hours ago. "Thank you for coming," he said.

"Maybe I can be of some help even though I'm only an amateur, working alongside a legend," Ned said with an eye roll. He shook his head on the way to his bedroom. "Although I'm not looking forward to explaining this to my fiancé."


	3. Chapter 3

Frank waited as long as he dared, and then nudged Ned awake. "Wake up, partner," he said, hating how that sounded. "We've got to use these couple of hours before the plane lands to prepare."

Ned groaned and rubbed the insides of his eyes. "How so? I already told you everything I know."

"Yeah, including a description of you sneaking into Nancy's house to find a clue she wanted and getting caught by her father." Despite himself, Frank grinned and shook his head in admiration.

"Don't remind me." Ned cringed at the memory.

"Joe and I always memorize a few basic phrases in the language we're about to be immersed in, as well as the main streets and agencies." Frank passed him a map and a couple of pamphlets. "That way, we're not shuffling around like tourists when we get there."

"Makes sense." Ned studied the maps for a few minutes, and muttered, "Yeah…yeah, it's coming back to me now." Louder, he said, "It's going to be pretty hopeless for the language part, though."

"I should be able to get us through decently. It's mostly English, but I hope I can understand these dialects." Frank closed his eyes and racked his brain for anything else they should be doing to get ready. Moira was their only starting point, and if she had nothing…

"Why did she do it, Ned?" he asked with his eyes still closed. He despised that he had to ask another man a question about his wife, but now he was afraid that Ned might know her better than he did in some ways. "She knows that I couldn't stop her anyway, so why wouldn't she at least talk to me face to face about her decision?"

"Oh, that's easy," Ned said. "Nancy remembers clearly the night when she sat at the stop of the stairs and watched her parents scream at each other. That was her last memory of her mother. If she doesn't come back, then she wanted you to have only happy memories of your last times together."

Frank groaned in realization. "It's all coming together now," he said more to himself. "And she probably did it even more so for Annie."

"Who's Annie?" Ned figured it out as soon as he asked. "Congratulations," he said dully. "Can I see a picture of her?"

Frank instantly felt protective, but he knew that Ned deserved at least this much. He pulled out his wallet and handed over her new kindergarten photo.

Ned kept a poker face as he studied her features. "Thank God, she looks just like Nancy."

"Thank you very much."

Ned said out loud what they were both thinking. "She could have been mine," he said with his characteristic openness. He handed the picture back to Frank. "Oh, well. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then."

Frank had felt nothing but jealousy around Ned in the early years, and now he had to face another dreaded emotion: guilt. At least Nancy had left Frank in order to save thousands of innocent lives, not just because she had found another dude. "Best wishes with your engagement, Ned."

"Thank you." Ned's eyes clouded dreamily, and he looked into the distance. "Obviously we're bringing up some major emotions from the past, but at this point, I should be grateful to you. I can't imagine what my life would be like without Cara." He tried unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position for his considerable muscles in the tiny airplane seat. "I'd marry her right now if my personal training job were steadier. You have to be pretty well established in the business to have enough clients to get benefits at the gym, and it will still be another year or two before my reputation is that solid."

Frank looked at him and for the first time felt something like respect. Obviously Ned had had more than just a passing jock crush on Nancy, but even now after he'd moved on, he was willing to sacrifice everything for an old friend. "I can't say thank you enough for doing this, Ned."

"Don't thank me yet." Ned pulled out a pile of pink loose-leaf pages that had been torn out of a binder. Frank leaned closer and saw animal stickers, little hearts to replace the dots over the i's, and a scraggly, hasty cursive that almost seemed like an immature version of—

"Oh, God," Frank groaned, and slumped low in his chair for the second time that day.

"I thought you wanted every clue that I could give you," Ned said innocently. "Well, Nancy didn't put dates on these letters, so put on your reading glasses, Loverboy. Maybe there's something about Revenant in one of these." He settled back in his cocoon, and pretty soon a slow smile spread across his face.

Frank looked down at the letter in his lap and instantly wished he hadn't. He put the stack gingerly back on Ned's lap tray.

Ned glanced at the letter on top. "Oh—you're right!" he said loudly, to the irritation of sleeping airline passengers around him. He covered the pages with his free hand. "Yes, I should definitely read these to myself and then brief you at the end."


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright," Nancy said to calm herself. "Here we go again." She quickly pressed a series of buttons on the elevator, then took off a hidden compartment and began to rearrange the tiny discs into the correct sequence. Spy glasses wouldn't work this time. She'd cracked the codes at home, and now hoped to quickly find out what she needed on the Revenant computer before getting out of there and back to her family.

"Success," she whispered excitedly as she felt the elevator go down instead of up. Once Cathedral had finally discovered Revenant's main location, they had asked for her immediately due to her prior experience. It was at the bottom of the Glaucus Lodge, exactly where Cathedral had abandoned their own previous headquarters. Sometimes the best hiding spot is in plain sight, Nancy thought.

The elevator door opened to a very similar arrangement that Cathedral had had, with the computer directly in front of her and their equipment room to the right, with a walkway on the left that she wouldn't need. Nancy knew that she didn't have much time, and she couldn't hold the hotel elevator here. "I'm in," she whispered into her freshly purchased cell phone. Her backup operative waited in the lobby, pretending to read a magazine.

Nancy swiftly turned her head to the right and left, but she only had eyes for the main computer. Seeing no obvious hazards, she ran to it and crouched to the left side. She pulled out the panel and began implementing the override code. Behind her, she heard the elevator doors close as a hotel guest summoned it elsewhere, and she knew that she could no longer leave immediately. There was one brief, panicked moment when Nancy thought that the code wouldn't work, but she made a slight adjustment and heard the monitor begin to awaken from its sleep. Nancy felt her pulse slow down slightly. Until she looked up.

The screen had been divided up into five scattered squares. Each square represented a diagramed bomb, along with the sequence of which wires to pull to deactivate it at each location in case Revenant needed to terminate any part of the mission by hand. But what froze Nancy in place was the tiny clock in the top right corner.

The bombs were going off in just over twenty minutes.

Nancy resisted the brief, human temptation to run out screaming and warn the world. She looked at the security setup and saw that it would have taken a retina scan to have the clearance to abort from this computer—these bombs would have to be deactivated manually instead. She analyzed the pictures and saw with relief that they had a straightforward design, although each one was different. "I need my team," she said to herself, and pulled out her cell phone to zoom in and take pictures of each diagram. She knew it was a miracle that her cell phone was getting reception in this underground lair. _What is that?_ she wondered, stopping and looking at the sequence to the fifth bomb when she got that far. It appeared more straightforward than the others, but she had never seen the type before.

Just then she heard a button depress, and saw a panel in the left wall begin to slowly lift. That entrance had certainly never been there before. Thinking quickly, Nancy dove to her right, rolling behind the handrail and crawling on her belly into the back section with the equipment.

Nancy made it behind the wall exactly as she heard three steps of footsteps arrive at the main computer. She stood up and whipped out her gun, listening, although knew that they were carrying weapons that were a lot more powerful than her own. With dismay she realized that they were three teenage girls. Young girls were recruited by terrorist organizations more and more because they tended not to be checked thoroughly at security sites.

"Good, everything looks fine," she heard one girl say to the other. "Come on, we've got twenty minutes to get out of Glasgow."

"Okay," a second girl said, and seemed in a hurry herself. "Let's go." Nancy closed her eyes in relief. "Wait—" Nancy's heart stopped. "Why was the screen already on? Someone's in here."

Nancy's eyes involuntarily filled with tears, as she now knew that she would die soon. She might be able to take one of them by surprise, possibly two, but not three, since they were now looking for an intruder. Wiping the moisture away angrily, she felt a steely focus settle on her. She took out her cell phone and created a text to her partners as she heard the three girls begin the search. She attached the photos of the bombs, cursing herself for not immediately taking a picture of the fifth bomb, and sent it along with a simple message: _i cant help. u have 20 mins to stop 5 bombs!_

Nancy put her phone back in her pocket. She could not help her team, and now had to think of an action that might give her any chance at survival. Her glance fell on the large container in the back left corner. She remembered that if she turned the temperature all the way up, an alarm would sound, and someone would have to come turn it off. Knowing it was a slim chance, she walked over and did just that, and then silently ran to the opposite front side of the room and hid behind another wall. At least she would make them come to her. If she were very lucky, they would go right to the alarm and have their backs to her trying to turn it off.

One of the girls gasped as the alarm sounded, and Nancy heard their ringleader say sharply, "Come on—he's in there! Oldest trick in the book." Nancy's heart dropped, but she stayed where she was, determined to go down fighting.

The girls were at the entrance to the room immediately, and Nancy heard a gun get cocked and ready for battle. "Wait—we can't!" the first one hissed. "We can't be shooting in this room when all of the technology is already overheated. This whole hotel could blow sky high with us in it."

"Then let's just do _this_," another girl said smugly, and Nancy's jaw dropped as an outside lever was pulled and a steel partition instantly went up, trapping her in. This was just how Nancy had trapped Ewan fifteen years ago, but there was nothing she could have done to prevent it. "This whole hideout will self-disintegrate a minute after the bombs go off, anyway. We've got to get out of the city." Running footsteps quickly faded away.

Forcing down the distracting visions of her husband and daughter, Nancy whipped her cell phone back out and dialed. "I'm trapped in the Revenant hideout by myself," she said briskly. "But let me know how I can help from the phone."


	5. Chapter 5

(Ten minutes earlier)

Frank sighed loudly and looked at his watch. "If they're not here in exactly one minute, then they're not coming. Operatives are never late, and usually not early either."

"Moira said that she would make a phone call and they would come," Ned reminded him hopefully.

"Yeah, and she acted like she knew nothing and there was nothing more she could do." Frank yanked his fingers through his hair, wishing for yet another cup of coffee. "She betrayed my mother-in-law, for pity's sake. I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

The two immediately pivoted to the door as a woman curtly pushed it open and walked inside, joining them next to the trash compactor at the main train station in Glasgow. "Welcome to the reincarnation of the Colony Operation," she said without preamble. "Not sure either of you should have come, but you're here now, and we may or may not need you. Everything is happening a lot quicker than we'd thought."

"Thanks for meeting with us, Zoe," Frank responded. "I understand you worked with my wife at the last Colony Operation."

"She was valuable then, and I hope she is this time as well. First we need to take care of logistics. I need both of your numbers." Zoe pulled out her phone, saved the numbers, and made sure everyone had each other's contact information.

"Where's Alec?" Frank asked. "And Moira said that there's one other person who's working with us?"

"Alec is in the Glaucus Lodge, available for backup." She omitted the fact that Nancy was currently attempting to gain access to the Revenant files in the basement of the Glaucus Lodge. "As for the other person—" Zoe leveled a piercing gaze at Frank. "He's coming in now, and save the dramatics for later." She rapped on the door four times.

Frank's brow crinkled in confusion as he saw a familiar figure enter with quick steps, and he got a strange, disjointed feeling like the dots weren't connecting. "Joe?" he asked in surprise and relief. "What, were you on the same plane as we were? How are _you_ involved?"

Joe stopped in front of Frank and met his eyes steadily. "Forgive me, Frank," he said simply. "I had to. The civilians of Glasgow are at risk."

Frank looked at him a moment longer, then suddenly he had trouble breathing. His eyes widened and his vision blurred with red dots. "_You_ sent for Nancy!" He gasped for air.

Joe was caught off guard by the venomous look on Frank's face. He took an uncertain step backwards. "Frank, remember _I'm_ the hothead, not you," he said, and glanced at Ned for assistance.

"Out of the terrorist prevention game, my _ass_!" Frank snarled, and lunged for his brother. Frank only got in one punch before Ned's strong arms easily pulled Frank away and restrained him from behind, but his fist had squarely met its target. Joe winced and leaned against the wall, the wind knocked out of his stomach.

"We don't have time for this." Zoe stepped between Frank and Joe. "I just got a message from Nancy. There are five bombs going off in this area, and she can't help. I have pictures of four of them with designs and deactivation instructions. We only have twenty minutes, so there's no time to get anyone else involved. I'll send everyone their assigned bomb on their phone." She paused for a moment, thinking, and then began forwarding texts.

The three men gaped at her in silent disbelief throughout this announcement. Ned looked like there would soon be a puddle around him, along with a matching brown stain on his pants. "Wh—what?" he stammered. "I don't have any training, I'm nobody!"

"I'm well aware of that," Zoe answered, and snapped her phone shut. "The bombs are all within a three-block radius here in the downtown because that's where they'll do the most damage. I'll take the bomb that's farthest away, and I'll tell Alec his assigned bomb on my way there. Joe, since now you can't move very fast—" she gave Frank a withering look—"you'll have to take the closest bomb, which is inside this train station. Frank, I'm giving you the bomb that's down the street from the Glaucus Lodge, which is caddy-corner from this train station, so you can be closest to your friend. Join up with him if you have any time left over."

Joe slowly began to stand up to complete his task, his breath ragged but more consistent. "What will I be doing at the Glaucus Lodge?" Ned asked, his face white.

"The trash can outside and to the left is the location of the bomb that we don't have any instructions for." Zoe choked at the end of these words, and cleared her throat to continue. "Clear as many people from that area as you can. Press the fire alarm if you think you have time to navigate a lot of people far enough away from the building. Scream, shove, do anything you have to do. We don't know how big that blast is going to be."

"Where's my wife?" Frank asked.

"Do your assignment," she snapped at him, walking toward the door.

"Tell me where my wife is before I run out into this train station yelling," Frank answered.

Zoe closed the distance between them in two strides, and grabbed his arm in a painful grip. "In the basement of the Glaucus Lodge, but only she has experience with the code to get down there, and who knows what's down there trapping her in. There is more than one innocent life involved here, Frank. I know you'll make the right choice." She let go and sprinted out of the room. Joe limped after her, looking up his instructions on his phone.

Frank looked at Ned. "Let's go." Nancy would have to wait. Frank realized with a jolt that he was making the same ethical decision that Joe had recently. Ned looked shaken to the core, and Frank put a comforting hand on his shoulder before the two jogged out into the city of Glasgow to dodge pedestrians.

"You're on your own," Frank said as their directions separated. "I'll be there soon," he yelled in parting, although both men knew that he probably wouldn't have any time left over.

Ned's heart pounded as he ran to his destination. He opened his mouth and was about to shout from behind the crowd when his cell phone rang. He almost ignored it, but picked it up as he ran.

"Stop!" he heard Zoe's voice scream. "Stop, do _not_ make a scene! Don't cause a panic! Listen to me!"

Ned slowed to a walk. "I'm listening," he said, catching his breath.

"Nancy is now available to talk over the phone, and she said your bomb deactivation design is easy. Call her on the phone number I've sent you, and see if she can talk you through it. Follow her orders from there if anything goes wrong. Got it?"

"Got it," Ned said. He saw the trash can he was looking for and approached it, feeling nauseous.

Back in the basement, Nancy finally had time to think about the overheated equipment in the room with her and ran over to turn the temperature back down. The alarm stopped. Nancy heard her cell phone ringing and hastily pressed it on. "How can I help?" she barked.

"Nancy! It's Ned. I'm at the trash can outside, and you'll need to talk me through this. I'm terrified."

Despite the circumstances, Nancy paused in bewilderment. "Ned?" she asked in astonishment.

"Can't explain now. I have the lid off and I pulled the whole can out. The object is actually attached to the inside of the cement that this ginormous trash receptacle is made of. People are sure looking at me strange, but I look like a hobo by now anyway."

Nancy snapped to attention. "Breathe evenly, Ned. Calm your fingers, if they're shaking. You only need to pull out four wires in order. Are you ready?"

She heard a ragged breath in and out. "Yes," he said. "I see the wires: red, blue, brown, and yellow."

She sagged with relief against the steel partition that blocked her in. It was designed exactly the way she'd thought it was. "Start with brown," she said.

"Okay—just yank it out?"

"Yes."

The wait was agonizing. He muttered as he worked, "It's not coming out very easily. It's dark with my head in here, but flashy lights are at least lighting up what I need to see."

Nancy shot back to an upright position. "Wait, Ned—_wait_!" she yelled. "Does it look like a grid, in the upper left corner?"

"Yes," he said slowly.

"That's a security code!" she wailed. "You have to crack the code as you pull out each wire! You must have the mother bomb!" She looked in horror at her watch: Thirteen minutes and sixteen seconds to go. She felt dizzy.

A brief pause. "Nancy, what should I do?" Ned asked.

Nancy mentally reviewed her options. She thought she might be able to figure it out if she looked at it, but there was no time for them to try to describe everything to each other blind over the phone. There was no time for Ned to come inside and get her, since the override code for the elevator would be just as difficult for an amateur. There was no time for the experienced Cathedral operatives to come help him. There was just no time.

"Ned," she said quietly. "Ned, you're sure that the bomb can't be taken out of the enclosure?"

"Positive."

"Are you strong enough to move the entire cement receptacle?" Remembering his daily workout regime, Nancy could only imagine what he must look like by now.

"Wow. Let me try." She heard a loud scraping sound, and a grunt. "I guess I can, surely but slowly, but I'd need to hang up and use both hands."

A large lump quickly formed in her throat. "I need you to listen carefully, Ned. You have just under thirteen minutes to get that bomb into the least densely populated area around you. The best place I can think of is that big lake in the back of the hotel. I don't know how the bomb will react when it touches the water. Get it as far into the middle of the lake as you possibly can. We have no idea how big the explosion will be."

She heard his labored breathing as he pulled. "You can do this, honey," she said gently. "You're a hero."

She heard static as he changed the phone from one hand to the other. "Backatcha, Nance," he huffed. "Always remember that this was my choice." She heard the line go dead as he hung up. He had no idea that she would be dead as well when the hideout self-disintegrated one minute after the bomb went off.

Her knees gave out and she fell to all fours, screaming in anguish as she dialed her home answering machine to leave one final message.


	6. Chapter 6

Frank took one final comparison between his diagram and the physical bomb before he cringed and gingerly plucked out the final wire. All the lights in the bomb faded out as it lost power, and a smile of relief spread across Frank's face. Although he knew that he would now be racing right back into harm's way.

Frank let the lid shut on the public collection mailbox, and sprinted through the streets to the Glaucus Lodge. He was surprised to see no pandemonium, although some raised eyebrows and giggles. He looked around for Ned, and discovered him just turning the corner of the hotel, loudly scraping a cement trash container on the sidewalk.

Annoyed now, Frank ran after him and faced him when they were in private in the alley. "What are you doing?" he snapped at him angrily. "Can't you follow a simple order?"

"My orders changed." His defeated eyes lit up momentarily. "Frank, can you turn this thing off?"

Frank peered inside, and immediately stepped back and shook his head. "There's no way," he said. "I'm not trained in those types. We'd need someone who's worked with Cathedral." Frank knew that Zoe and Alec were busy on the other side of the city and would never get there in time.

Wordlessly Ned went back to alternating between pulling and pushing the container down the alley. Frank could see his back and bicep muscles straining underneath his shirt, and sweat soaked his clothes. Suddenly Frank understood what was going on. "Oh, hell no," he said.

Ned whirled on him. "Leave, Frank," he said, his chest heaving. "Go rescue Nancy."

"Let me help you," Frank began, and gave the container a shove. It didn't budge.

"You can't," Ned said, and went back to work.

Frank watched helplessly, wishing he weren't quite so thin and wiry. "Ned, this isn't your fight—"

Without warning, Ned took one powerful step and shoved Frank into the side of the brick wall. Frank hit hard and his neck snapped back, creating a sickening crunch as his head made fast contact with brick. He groaned and touched the back of his head, feeling blood. He knew that if he were alive tomorrow, he'd have whiplash and an ostrich-sized egg on his skull.

"Either stay there or move farther back," Ned said menacingly, already pushing and pulling again. "You have a family, Frank. If you walk this direction again, I'll knock you out."

Frank waited for his vision to turn right-side up, and watched desperately as Ned moved farther away with his burden. The Lodge's hopes now rested on a man with no special training at all. Ned's words echoed in his brain. _Go rescue Nancy._ Nancy had worked with Cathedral before, and received their weapons training. Ignoring his throbbing headache, he pushed his way through pedestrians while calling his wife on the phone. He nearly sobbed at the sound of her voice.

"Frank?" Nancy shrieked into the phone. "I begged you not to come! Jerk, imbecile, you idiotic—"

"Do you have the thesaurus in front of you?" Frank asked. "Whoa whoa whoa, I need this, folks," he said to an older couple boarding the hotel elevator. The woman gasped in offense as he physically and ungracefully guided them back out.

"I'm in the hotel elevator, love," he said as the doors closed. "What do I do to get to you?"

Nancy paused, not wanting him in danger, but knew that she would lose this argument. "First, you have less than three seconds to press the following floors: 4, 5, 9, 3, 8, 8 again, and 1."

Frank had pressed the buttons as she talked, knowing there was no time for repeats. "Okay, now what?"

"That should have opened up a secret panel. You have to look for it and push it out, right below the floor numbers. Once you have it, I'll have to communicate as we go depending on what colors light up."

"Oh, _now_ you want to communicate?" Frank said snarkily as he found the panel and pushed it open.

Nancy felt hot irritation surge through her veins, the kind that only a spouse can produce. "You want to start with me under _these_ circumstances?"

"Don't you always say that it's best to go down fighting? Everything is flashing red."

Nancy got back to business. "Then switch the disc that's in the bottom right corner with the disc that's next to the dot on the top," she said, and after a suspenseful thirty seconds, Frank stood up in relief as the elevator began to move down. He looked for the emergency stop button to hold the elevator once it got there, but there was a notice next to it saying that if pressed, only maintenance could turn it back on. Frank knew that the couple on the ground floor would have pressed the button calling the elevator back by now, and he couldn't believe that he and Nancy might be trapped down here due to something so stupid.

"What am I walking into, Nan?" he asked warily as the doors opened. He clicked the "open door" button several times.

"Nothing at all. Run to your left and try every lever there is on the right until the wall opens. There's no code."

Frank did as told, and his hand immediately slipped off the first lever, as it was slick with sweat. Swearing loudly, he used his other hand to flick all six of the levers to their opposite direction, and Nancy was running out of the enclosure before the wall had finished opening. They both heard the elevator ding as it was summoned, and sprinted as the door began to close. Frank knew they wouldn't make it in time like this, and used all his momentum and strength to shove Nancy toward the closing crack. Nancy went flying, stumbling head first and twisting to the side as her feet couldn't keep up with her speed. She hit the floor hard, crying out in pain as her right hand took most of her weight with a sickening crunch, but she had made it between the crack and into the door sensors. The door politely opened back up.

Frank stepped over her and pulled her body the rest of the way in, holding her to him for the brief ride up. "I'm sorry, honey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated, deeply regretting his guilt trip of a minute ago.

"Don't be. Neither of us could have made that jump." Nancy forced herself to stand up, gritting her teeth against the pain.

Frank desperately wished this next fact weren't true. "Ned still needs you for a bomb outside, darling, I'm so sorry."

She attempted to flex her fingers, but her hand froze in agony. "It's all yours," Frank snapped to the couple on the ground floor, and put an arm around Nancy, helping her run toward the direction he had seen Ned last.

Nancy kept her hand protectively held to her side. "You can't help, Frank. Get to safety."

"Not a chance." Frank suddenly understood what Ned had felt like, hearing that over and over again: useless.

Nancy tried one final ploy. "Ned's always been the one for me."

"Nice try, but no. Interesting choice of last words to your husband, though."

Suddenly she looked to Frank in horror, showing him her hand, which was quickly turning a nasty shade of purplish-blue. "I can't move it, Frank," she said miserably as they turned the corner and began running down the alley next to the Lodge. "I need both hands to crack the code and the pull the wires. I'm not going to be able to deactivate that bomb!"


	7. Chapter 7

"You once said I'm your better half," Frank said, getting winded. "Now we'll find out."

Nancy snapped her head to stare at him, panting as they ran. "What?"

"I will be your hands, dear," he said simply and somehow pulled her along just a little bit faster.

"But you don't—you're not—"she sputtered. Then she saw what she was looking for, and her mouth fell open in fear and horror. "Stop, Ned! Stooooop!" she screamed, and Frank yelled with her as they reached the top of the beach.

Ned was just entering the lake, knee-deep in water. He dragged the trash container behind him, the water lapping at the bottom of the cement edges. If the bomb touched the water, it would become highly unstable. Ned was ragged with exhaustion, his face a sickly light yellow.

Following his friends' voices, he momentarily paused to look up. A burst of energy came to him as his face darkened angrily. "Stay back!" he yelled in return. "Come any closer and I'll crack your skulls together!" Ned then rattled off a string of expletives that would have made a sailor blush.

Nancy halted abruptly, putting a hand on Frank's arm to stop him as well. She was shocked and afraid. She had never seen Ned like this, and she knew him quite well.

"Ned, Nancy can—" Frank began.

Nancy shot Frank her best let-me-handle-this look. She put her good hand up in a gesture of surrender. "Ned," she said soothingly yet firmly. "Ned, I think we have a good chance of powering off that bomb."

"There are less than five minutes left, Nancy," Ned growled.

"I think we can do it," she repeated. "Let me at least look at it. I'm begging you."

A flicker of doubt passed through Ned's eyes. "No," he said. "Get back. Please tell Cara that—"

"We're not telling her anything," Frank snapped, unable to stay silent. "Not when there's still a chance."

Ned looked from Nancy to Frank and back again. His jaw clenched with determination. "Swear to me on your daughter's grave that you both will run away as fast as you can if you haven't figured it out when there's one minute left," he said with an edge to his voice.

Frank and Nancy would have sworn to anything. "Yes," Nancy said immediately as Frank said, "We promise."

Ned stepped back but kept a protective hand on the side.

Frank and Nancy sprinted the rest of the way down the beach, splashing ungracefully through the water. "Okay," Nancy said, beginning the muttering ritual that always calmed her nerves in stress. "White, green, blue dots. Blue, red, brown, yellow wires." She turned to her husband and rattled off some clinical terms that Ned couldn't understand.

"I think so too." Frank nodded. "But you're the expert, Nance."

Nancy stared longer to analyze, using precious seconds. "Frank," she said slowly. "Switch these two discs here while you pull the yellow wire."

Frank did as told. Nothing happened. "I think that was the right move," Nancy mused.

"Three minutes," Ned prompted.

Nancy looked at Frank seriously. "Then this is it," she said. "No second guesses. Keep your head in there, Frank." He did.

Nancy couldn't see the colors with Frank's head in the way. "Ned," she said, "you'll need to hold the container at a forty-five degree angle so I can see it over Frank's shoulder."

With the remainder of his strength, Ned pushed and held the cement structure at the proper angle, his muscles shaking as the seconds went on. Nancy spoke low instructions to her husband, and he complied. A few moves later, Nancy said, "This next one should finish it."

Frank pushed another disc and pulled out the third wire. Ned's hands began to bleed as the container began to slip out of his grasp.

"Oh," Nancy said in surprise. "Damn, I guess _now_ it's one more move."

"Time's up," Ned said abruptly, letting the container fall to the sandy water. "Get back."

"There's only one more move this time!" Nancy shrieked. "Annie!" she screamed involuntarily as her daughter's face came to her vision unbidden.

"We'll make it," Frank said hurriedly.

_"Liars!"_ Ned swore violently, pulled Frank out of the container, and gave him a powerful shove for the second time in fifteen minutes. Frank fell in a sprawled-out position, splashing in the shallow water, and knew he couldn't come any closer when he took one look at Ned's expression.

"Nancy," Ned growled. "Leave." He grabbed the container in a bear hug and gave it a yank into the water. A ripple crashed on it and almost splashed inside.

Nancy followed into the water, frantic with panic. Suddenly her eyes dawned with recognition. "That's it!" she declared. "I got it!"

"You said that before," Ned yelled at her, and raised his arm to push her as far away as possible.

Nancy responded by quickly reaching her left hand into the cement enclosure. She used three fingers on her good hand to depress three small buttons at once, and held onto them. "Pull the red wire out, Ned!" she screamed, one inch from his face. "Pull it out!"

Ned looked at her, a panoply of rage, fear, and uncertainty. Frank watched from the beach, helpless again.

With a carnal yell of exasperation, Ned reached inside and pulled the brown wire.

The three adults covered their eyes like children, regressing from sheer terror. A wave splashed over the top and spilled inside, causing a sizzle like bacon left too long on a grill.

A moment passed. Then two. Ned, Nancy, and Frank looked at each other, stunned. They once again began to hear the sounds of everyday life, the birds calling to each other and children's laughing voices carrying from the other side of the lake. Frank took a powerful leap and grabbed the cement, looking inside. No lights were lit up.

Frank shouted with relief and automatically grabbed Nancy and Ned, an arm for each of them. The two sagged into him, bone tired, causing him to lose his balance. The three fell the same direction into the water, laughing with abandon. Nancy splashed Ned in the face with her good hand. Frank nuzzled Nancy's ear and murmured, "You're brilliant, Mrs. Hardy."

Ned broke free to run farther inland, falling down and literally kissing the sand. "Geez, Nancy!" he groaned, collapsing on his back and letting the water gently lap up on his sides. Nancy and Frank gripped each other in an iron hug, afraid that the other would evaporate into a mirage if they let go.

Nancy smiled sheepishly at her ex. "You can never be rid of my antics, Ned," she said apologetically.

"I should have realized that," he said wearily. "But really, Nan, this takes the cake. According to our old rules, you wouldn't be sitting down for a month."

Frank started to laugh until he noticed Nancy's blush begin to creep up her neck and around her cheeks. She giggled and held a hand over her mouth like she was just a little too happy and embarrassed to hear Ned's words.

Frank cleared his throat. "Nancy…please tell me that Ned didn't used to spank you after every reckless activity you did." Nancy looked away, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

Ned propped himself onto one elbow. "And richly deserved, too, Frank, you've got to admit. Maybe we all wouldn't be here right now if you'd taken her in hand yourself."

Frank and Nancy jumped in surprise at another cherished, ordinary sound: Nancy's cell phone ringing. Nancy pulled it out of her soaking wet pocket. "I'm never going to back to my old phone company," she said.

Zoe's military voice cut through their reverie. "Congratulations, team. Time's up and there have been no explosions, so everyone must have been successful. But get back to your posts if you've left them! Stand guard next to your deactivated bomb and block everyone who tries to get near it—the last thing we need is a panic on our hands if people notice them!"

Frank groaned, not ever wanting to let his wife out of his arms or sight again, but started to stand up. Ned stopped him. "No—stay with Nancy, Frank. That's where you belong. I think I can watch a mailbox until the government gets there." His legs shook with fatigue as he stood up, his figure stooped from exhaustion as Frank and Nancy watched his retreating figure.

Frank knew that he and Nancy had a lot of talking to do, but he also knew what the first order of business was. "Nancy…"

"Yes?" She looked up at him, a proud smirk covering her features.

Frank gave a respectful nod toward Ned's direction. "I think I finally understand what you saw in him."

tbc


	8. Epilogue

"And they lived happily ever after." Nancy shut the book and leaned in for yet another hug and kiss, tucking Annie's blankets snugly around her.

Annie groaned. She didn't understand why her parents were so clingy since they'd returned from Scotland. "Mom, I know the book doesn't end that way. Why do you always add that at the end?"

"Because that's the kind of world I want for us. So far, you, me, and Daddy have always lived happily ever after, and I want it to stay that way." She smiled at her daughter, her eyes shining, and quietly turned off the light and shut the door.

Walking down the hallway, Nancy groaned as she heard the beep of the answering machine. "Do you _have_ to keep playing that?" she began, but Frank put a finger to his lips.

"Hi, this is Nancy, and Mom," the voicemail began, Nancy's voice breaking with emotion. "I don't have much time left. I don't regret the decisions I've made, except for the impact they have on you both. Annie, I want you to always be brave, and think of other people before yourself as I have done today. Don't let _anything_ in life hold you back. Frank, you are the best detective, husband, and father who ever walked this earth, and I'm glad we've stored up so many wonderful memories that you can cherish forever. I'm so glad I married you. I love you both eternally." A long beep ended the message.

Frank grabbed Nancy and held her tightly, to the full extent of his need. "Nancy, I don't _ever_ want you to have to leave another message like that," he said passionately.

"You've been in a couple of tight spots yourself, sir." Nancy pulled away with the hand that wasn't bandaged and met his intense gaze. "This is the life we've both chosen, despite the premature grey hairs."

"I'm between a rock and hard place," Frank mused. "I fell in love with you partly because of your strength and determination to fight crime, but I still have a secret fantasy of you giving it up to be a wife and mom."

Nancy looked at him sharply. "I would love the extra time with Annie, but trust me, neither of you would be happy if I stayed home."

"How about taking a break, though?" Frank bargained.

She smiled. "Sure, how about a ten-day break to go on a _real_ vacation this time? Well, after I get through this case I had to put on hold to go to Scotland."

Frank rolled his eyes. "And without finding any cases _while_ we're on vacation?"

"You'll have to ask crime to take a break, too, honey." The doorbell rang, and Nancy clapped her hands excitedly as she went to answer it. "Geez, Frank, put out some chips and dip or something," she called over her shoulder while opening the door. Then she felt her jaw go slack, and had to reel it quickly back in.

Ned stood at the door, quite happily gazing at a leather-clad woman beside him who was currently taking off her biker helmet to reveal a shock of rainbow-colored hair. Nancy couldn't believe that she felt a sudden stab of jealousy, and felt guilty because she knew she had no right to such an emotion. "Ned—so glad you could come. And Cara, so nice to meet you!" she said politely.

"You too." Cara smiled warming and held out her hand. "I've wanted to meet the woman that my fiancé would go around the world and risk his life for, even a decade after the fact."

Nancy laughed and stood aside to let them in. Frank rushed over to offer Ned a heartfelt handshake. Nancy's intuition told her that Cara allowed everyone the benefit of the doubt, until they crossed her once. She was about to close the door when she heard an arguing couple also coming up the walk. "How am I supposed to believe that?" Vanessa asked. "That's just what you said a few years ago."

"Well, they're not going to give me any paperwork so I can prove it. I swear, Van, Cathedral only called me this time in order to coordinate everything with Nancy. I'm back on the inactive list." Joe sounded weary, like they'd had this argument many times.

"Again, that's just what you said last time. I really hate being put in the position of the nagging, miserable wife. Nancy!" Vanessa kissed each of Nancy's cheek, and squeezed her considerable stomach past her through the doorway. Her and Joe's third child was due in just under two months.

"Hi, Nan." Joe gave her a grin and a quick hug. "Ms. Save-the-Day yet again."

Nancy laughed, taking their coats. Vanessa looked embarrassed. "I'm sure you must have heard some of that argument," she said sheepishly. "You can guess that I am very, very angry with Joe that he got himself involved in this terrorism business again, without even having the respect to speak to me about it."

"Van—" Joe scowled, losing his patience with her as everyone sat down. "I'm so sorry, but you know who you married, and I had quite a decision to make. And I didn't think I'd have to go to Europe to chase down this idiot—" he nodded toward Frank—"because I thought even-headed Ned would at least distract him for a couple of days, not get on the next plane with him."

Ned didn't appear happy with that comment. "So that's what you all think of me, a time-waster? Believe me, I'm happy things ended as they did, but how can I trust you again, Frank and Nancy, knowing that you swore on your daughter's grave and _still_ wouldn't step back when you promised to?"

Out of everyone involved, Frank didn't think he deserved to take most of the heat. "And I'm not sure how I can trust the two of you again," he said, looking to Nancy and Joe.

"Can we talk about this in private?" Nancy asked incredulously, but Joe held up a hand to stop her. "You're right, Brother," he said sincerely. "I wasn't happy about the choices I was forced to make, but believe me, I am very sorry that I felt the need to go behind your back to brief Nancy about the terrorism situation."

Frank's heart sank, and he felt hurt. "That's not a complete apology, Joe," he said.

Joe looked pained. "Frank, I'm so sorry, but I'm not sure I could have done anything differently." The two brothers looked at each other and knew that their healing would be a long process, with a new understanding of what the other was capable of.

"Please, Frank, I can't let Joe take all the blame," Nancy interrupted. "This was my choice, remember? Joe didn't twist my arm. If you have trouble trusting anyone, it will have to be me."

"Back up for a second, people!" This explosive comment came from Cara, and everyone turned to look at her uncertainly. "I don't know you people, and I'm sure you have all kinds of high-up degrees and everything, but right now you're acting like a bunch of hypocrites. You're angry with everyone else for making the same decisions that _you each_ would have made under the same circumstances. There's one common denominator here, folks: You can all trust each other to _always _make split-second decisions in favor of the public good, instead of personal good or even sometimes family good."

The group sat in silence, taking a few moments to let this sink in. Ned looked at her in appreciation, putting an arm around her. "Amen," he said.

The group began to visibly relax, sitting back farther in their seats, although there were still harsh implications in her words. Each person grudgingly began to see the truth in what she said.

Nancy felt her previous stab of jealousy fade into pride that Ned had found a woman that was just as assertive as she was. "I have a feeling that this won't be our last pow-wow, to process this experience and probably several more," she said. "But what I'm thinking about now is how sick I am of only going on double dates with those two right there." She nodded to Joe and Vanessa.

"Hey!" Vanessa said in mock offense.

"Double date?" Ned looked to Frank in trepidation, still traumatized from their double date a long time ago.

Frank laughed eagerly. "Don't worry, I think I'll remember this time which woman is my date," he said, looking in admiration at his wife.

"I'm thirsty," a little voice said behind them, Annie walking into the room just as her father dipped her mother for an overly dramatic kiss. "Ewwwww!" she shrieked.

"You think _that's_ gross?" Joe smacked his lips and gave Vanessa a wet kiss.

"Uncle Joe!" Annie screamed.

Ned and Cara couldn't help but join in.

"Who are you?" she asked in disgust.

"I'm Ned, and this is Cara," Ned told her. "I'm an old friend of your mom's."

"Well, stop kissing, Uncle Ned!" she yelled, making a slip.

"Uncle Ned," Frank said thoughtfully. "I like the sound of that." He pulled his daughter into his arms and ignored her cries for mercy, kissing her all over her face.

nd-hb-nd-hb-nd-hb

Thank you so, so much to all my readers, especially those that left reviews, and highest thank-yous to the few people who left reviews on all the separate chapters. This is my first fanfiction where I've posted chapters one at a time, and you all made it so much fun. I will remember your words. Thanks!


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